This invention relates generally to the field of spatial manipulators for orienting human subjects in 3-dimensional (3D) space. More particularly, it concerns a spatial manipulator for a) maneuvering a mammalian subject's (e.g. a human or other biped's) vestibular apparatus in relationship to gravity for purposes of diagnosis and treatment of certain vestibular disorders, as well as positioning a subject to undergo other medical diagnostic or therapeutic procedures, b) simulating inner or outer space flight or other external environmental perturbations (e.g. aeronautic, vehicular or vessel travel) such as turbulence or oscillation and c) entertainment or education, e.g. driver/pilot training or gaming.
Dizziness and positional vertigo, serious conditions affecting the lives of many people, are typically sourced to the root cause of vestibular malfunction and other chronic vertiginous conditions. Much experience in the past with examining and treating a person with vestibular-disorder has focused, and correctly so, on “misplaced” anatomical particles, called “otoliths”, present in the person's semi-circular canal systems. These wandering otoliths, have broken loose from their original location attached to the otolithic organ to which they have provided gravity sensitivity by virtue of their high density and have migrated to the semicircular canals wherein they have create a false sense of rotational movement and dizziness
Effective treatment, in many instances, has been determined to involve putting such a person, and specifically the persons' head, through various three-dimensional spatial-orientation maneuvers, both to allow a doctor/clinician better to identify the specific nature of an apparent vestibular disorder, and also to employ such maneuvering, assisted by gravity, to “reposition” the displaced otoliths out of the semicircular canals so that they will no longer create their adverse affects.
Audiology and cardiology and other diagnostic testing and treatment also sometimes require putting a patient's body through such three-dimensional spatial-orientational maneuvers, e.g. to test a subject's hearing or balance or heart or blood pressure in response to orientational positions or changes, rotational speeds or accelerations, vibratory stimulus and the like.
There is also need fore apparatus capable of simply and conveniently providing an environment for simulation of inner or outer space flight, vehicular or vessel travel, including with turbulence or oscillation, the apparatus requiring a minimum of space, weight and expense. Such applications include education, e.g. flight or driver's training and entertainment, e.g. games such as fighter pilot or NASCAR driver, skydiver, Motocross, skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing or other extreme sports, etc.
Mammalian subjects as used herein refers broadly to mammals, and preferably bipeds and most preferably humans that are capable of diagnosis and therapy (treatment) for vestibular disorders or are candidates for flight simulation or other applications requiring many degrees of freedom of rotational orientation. Such orientations of the mammalian subject preferably would have permitted concurrent proximate access to the mammalian subject for purposes of monitoring the mammalian subject's vestibular or other physiological response to such rotation or vibration.
Unfortunately, certain forms of prior art apparatus typically are spherical, i.e. they describe a circle no matter the viewing angle. As such, this form of prior art apparatus typically provides only limited access to a subject positioned within the sphere. Moreover, certain forms of prior art apparatus typically are passive, rather than driven, so that there is little or no control of the orientation of the subject, and, at best, only manual control. This prior art shortcoming is understandable, since most prior art apparatus are intended to be used for recreation rather than for serious scientific, e.g. medical testing or treatment, applications.
Among conventional medical treatment apparatus, a rotatable chair has been provided that can be tilted backward, off-vertical-axis, while rotating a patient. Too few degrees of rotational freedom are provided by such apparatus, as there is no orthogonal-axes 360° rotational orientation of the patient. Moreover, the tilt angle range is somewhat limited. Barrel-like apparatus with more degrees of freedom and range also have been provided, but these deny real-time attendant, e.g. physician or technician access due to the cylindrical-surround shape of the barrels. Other forms are unbalanced, requiring the motors to work against gravity. Others are infeasibly bulky.
One recent development involves apparatus having a single boom assembly that is asymmetrically attached to one side of a circular rim for providing a relatively stationary bearing at the rim's rotational axis. This boom assembly involved the use of struts that are attached asymmetrically at one circumferential region of the rim, providing little or no structural integrity to the rim itself, which buckles and deforms under the weight of a second-axis frame assembly mounted therein and mounting a chair on which a subject sits. The rim was of triangular cross section rendered in solid steel and was supported by a solid steel circumferential ring of rectangular cross section. This configuration required a four-roller circumferential race to maintain even a low-level of structural integrity when the rim and/or the frame assembly was rotated under slight or even no load. With this recently developed apparatus, maintaining the structural integrity of the circular and planar and earth-vertical planar orientation of the rim was extremely problematic and operational failures characterized by rim buckling and other deformation and ultimate malfunction were commonplace.